Just got into a crash

[wetcat007]

Originally posted by: Regs

Originally posted by: FoBoT
by definition, you were tailgating, if you weren't you could not have hit the car in front of you

Yeah, like NJ. You're 100% at fault if you hit their rear. No exceptions. And tailgating is usually the ticket issued or careless driving (the lesser of the two evils). Tailgating is a 4 point ticket while careless is usually just 2 points.

What if someone backs into you?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
3 seconds rule. I follow that when traffic is sparse. I live in the East Bay. I got off the Bay Bridge onto 80 East. Do you know how many cars get off at Ashyby and University exits? Do you know how immensely packed I-80 is? Those 7-8 lanes that start after the MacArthur maze merges down to 5 by University Ave. You have to expect slowdowns and a bottleneck. You follow the 3 second rule all the time and you'd be getting into more trouble.

See, the thing about heavy traffic is that it slows down traffic. And when you're driving slowly, the required following distance is reduced. If traffic was so heavy, then you'd have been going slow enough to stop. However heavy traffic was, you were too close to the car in front of you for whatever speed you were going.

I can almost assure you I was about 3 seconds away from the car when I saw the slowdown. I slowed down accordingly. I saw the slowdown occur in the next lane at first and I braked in precaution. My guess was correct as the car in front of me did slow down right after. I was probably down to around 2 seconds or so by then in distance.

Riddle me this, Batman - you started slowing down before the car in front of you, but by the time they started slowing down you were CLOSER to them? That's not possible unless you were driving faster than them and closing rapidly before you started braking.

You're right, if I slammed my brakes with 3 seconds to spare I would've made it out of there, however it's the initial slowdown in traffic that got me to close the gap. Otherwise I wouldn't have been tailgating. So what am I supposed to do? Treat the 3 second rule like a concrete wall? The instant I get to 2 seconds in distance I slam the brakes so I get back to 3 second distance? No. You and I both know that it's not realistic. If there's a slowdown in traffic, and a bottleneck, you get closer without a doubt, but once you adjust to that speed and distance, you further your distance back up again as traffic eases so you can maintain a safe distance again. That was exactly what I was doing. I just saw and reacted to the sudden braking too late.

Do you think California is the only place with traffic? We all drive in it all the time, and if you can't manage to do it without crashing into the car in front of you, plan an alternate route. You seem completely unwilling to accept the fact that this accident happened because you screwed up.

Anyways, this teaches me to be a lot more cautious. I will watch my distance from now on. Part of me wonders if I had an empty car instead of a 5 occupants, if I could've stopped in a shorter distance. Part of me felt that the stopping distance was weak tonight.

Probably. Passengers are a distraction, too.

 

[Cuda1447]

Originally posted by: dug777

Originally posted by: Cuda1447
Still tailgating. The idea behind the tailgating is that you have enough room to stop entirely if a brick wall appeared in front of you. So it shouldn't matter if they slammed on their breaks or not. Most people don't realize exactly how far back a safe driving distance is and why.

Hey, I'm not banned

*looks around nervously*

haha I know. I'm just to lazy to change my profile

 

[dainthomas]

Originally posted by: DLeRium
I was defintely going slower than the car in front of me.

Apparently not.

 

[jdini76]

I don't understand going around insurance. you pay into it. why not use it?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: jdini76
I don't understand going around insurance. you pay into it. why not use it?

Sometimes they jack your rates up if you get into an accident... although if you're not going to use it for small accidents, you really should bump your deductible up (assuming it'll save you a decent amount of money)

 

[jtvang125]

You probably weren't tailgating but you really need to brake more firmly next time when there's a slow down. Brake a little harder than the car in front of you so you'll increase the distance just to make sure you'll give yourself more distance to stop in if needed. Also pay attention to the 3 or 4 cars ahead of you. If they're tightly pack give yourself even more distance as there's more chance there will be a panic stop with these cars if there's a sudden slow down.

I know LA traffic can be frustrating sometime. You try to give yourself some room and some asshat just cuts right in. You back off of him and bam same thing. Rinse and repeat.

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Originally posted by: jdini76
I don't understand going around insurance. you pay into it. why not use it?

WHY?, you ask, heres an example that happened to me, did $1,300 in damage in a fender bender, no damage to mine, no cops involved. The insurance company was going to report me to the DMV,(points) and raise my rates for 3 years netting them around $1,800.
Needless to say I just wrote the guy a check.

 

[Fiat1]

Hi DLeRium's MOM: Yes

This the lady DLeRium rear ended
My neck hurts.
Here is the phone number to my lawyer he will be contacting you.
Have a nice day.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

L2D

 

[Boztech]

Originally posted by: Regs

That's harsh. If you want to leave enough room to stop in case the person in front of you completely hits the hooks, you will get eaten alive by traffic. Anything more than a car length practically guarantees you will be constantly cut off by weavers. I know what the law says in this case, but IMO the law is not appropriate for the reality of dense high speed traffic that you see now.

Not unless you drive the way we all agreed to according to the law. Trust me, it's better this way.

Obviously you don't live in the type of traffic area he's referring to. I agree with him 100%.

I live in D/FW, and I can confirm that if you leave more than a few car lengths of space in front of you, someone will cut you off to get in that space because freeways here don't always exit to the right. Some of them split off 3 or 4 ways depending on what lane you are in. If you let people cut you off, you will be in a constant state of slowing down and missing your exits, then getting lost or stuck in other traffic.

It's just the way it is.

 

[Boztech]

Edit: double post

 

[runzwithsizorz]

Originally posted by: mugs

See, the thing about heavy traffic is that it slows down traffic. [/quote]







You sir, have never driven on HWY. 10 in Riverside during rush hour, bumper to bumper 80 mph. It's alot like the first couple of laps of a NASCAR race, doesn't really matter who screws up, some metal is gonna get bent. Wanna give yourself ample room to stop?, it's easy, ----- don't get on the freeway!
Oh, and call the wife and tell her you'll be a couple of hours late for dinner.